Gov. Dave Speaks

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

By Sabra Ayres

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Now in his second term, Gov. Dave Freudenthal is at the helm of a lush state economy that has been fed by the development of Wyoming’s abundant natural resources. His ratings have remained high despite being a Democrat in a largely Republican state. Latest poll numbers show the Thermopolis native’s approval ratings at 81 percent, according to a January survey conducted by the Casper Star-Tribune.

The state’s abundance of gas reserves has put Wyoming - and indeed, Freudenthal - in the national spotlight. He recently appeared on “Meet the Press” with Tom Brokaw to discuss the growing importance of voters in the Western United States.

But not everyone agrees with how the state should handle its dependence on the tax revenue generated from developing Wyoming’s natural resources. Many have called for a better plan to diversify the state’s economy in order to, among other things, keep young Wyomingites in the state after graduation.

The Planet talked with Freudenthal in a one-on-one interview late last month before his arrival in Jackson to host of the Western Governors Association’s annual meeting. The following are excerpts from that interview:

Planet Jackson Hole: Wyoming consistently elects a majority of Republicans to its state Legislature as well as on the federal and presidential levels. Yet, you are a Democrat. How do you explain your approval ratings in a very red state?

Gov. Dave Freudenthal: What Wyoming voters are thinking, particularly on some of these growth issues, is that they kind of like a little bit of balance. You know, there’s a sort of notion that ... what did they used to say about politics? That the problem with it is that with one party in power, they get a swelled belly and a swelled head. I think that it was Will Rogers who said that. Then the voters come along and say, “you know we don’t like this.” Because, you know, the state is fairly complex. We want a healthy economy and the benefits that come from that. But we want a healthy environment.

People vary about those definitions, but on balance, I think that that probably counts for me … [laughs] … I don’t know what counts for me getting elected. I guess in the end, the best answer is I got more votes than the other guy.

PJH: When it comes to dealing with the state Legislature, which is controlled by a two-thirds Republican majority, how do you manage to get your agenda through? What are the things you have to compromise on?

DF: I think what you first have to understand is that what we have tried to do is to talk about a state agenda, not a Democratic agenda and not a Republican one. On things like the Wildlife Trust Fund, clearly it was not something the legislature was dying to pass, but we got it done in part because we had to give up some things - it doesn’t have the funding I would like. But they were willing to pass it, and we can try to get a little more funding every year, and I think those are the sort of compromises you have to make. You don’t get 100 percent of what you want. But today having a Wildlife Trust Fund is better than when we didn’t. And I wouldn’t have gotten it if I’d have said, “OK, you give me 100 percent of everything I want or I’ll veto it.”

You need to remember that politics truly is the art of the possible. It’s not a place for people who are “it’s my way or the highway.” In fact, I would argue that part of the reason that this country is in so much trouble is that both political parties have encouraged a sort of “my way or the highway” approach. And as a consequence, you see that manifested in Congress. And as a result, very little happens.

PJH: What are your biggest disappointments so far as governor?

DF: You know, I try not to think about those sorts of things, because I think it can be incredibly dangerous for people in public life because they get too focused on me, and not enough focus on we. I know that sounds trite, but if you think about it, when politicians get to talking about ‘’my grandest disappointment,” their voice gets deep and their words get profound, and we need not do that. That’s something I should think about later. What I should be thinking about now is what can I get done moving forward.

I think we’ve got to think more deeply about how we are going to fund things. Inflation and the cost increases in construction and these energy costs are going to hit everybody, both individually and it’s going to hit businesses and the same thing is happening with government. For instance, our two-year budget goes into affect July 1. We built that budget on the assumption I would be paying $3 a gallon for gasoline for school buses, highway trucks, and we thought $3 was pretty high. I mean it was September when you put that budget together. Turns out, we were wrong. And now I’ve got to go back and make budget adjustments.

Those kinds of pragmatic things we need to think about. I mean, your mayor up there has done some wonderful things in energy conservation. And people kind of said, “Oh, well that’s some green thing up in Jackson.” But at the last meeting of municipalities, which was in Jackson, all of a sudden, all people want to talk about is energy conservation because they want to figure out how to get their budgets back. And those are very real problems we are facing going forward.

PJH: One of the questions on many Wyomingite’s minds is how to keep young Wyomingites in state after graduation. What are your plans for keeping more of them home and helping them find professional jobs?

DF: We’ve been trying to get the companies to locate more people to sort of the light-blue and white-collar jobs in Wyoming. And here’s the typical conversation: I go to the companies, and they say, “Great, we’d be glad to move people there. But where are they going to live?”

It goes full circle. We are back to where I started, which is how do you get the legislature to share more of the wealth with the local governments to build the sewer, water and roads ... because that’s our obligation. The developer will build the house. But find them a lot that has sewer and water ... that is really hard to do. And the same is around the state, it’s not just the impacted areas or in Teton County. We have a legitimate problem with housing being available for, frankly, people who are working folk or even for white-collar people who are starting out.

We continue to push the legislature to give more money out so the communities can build the infrastructure to support the housing. … The other issue is about the national economy, which, as you know, is in a general recession.

PJH: What is your plan for keeping the balance between developing the state’s natural resources and protecting the environment?

DF: Well, it’s a struggle in that, frankly, we have not had as much cooperation as we would have hoped from the federal agencies. For example, when we look at this thing with the forest service being essentially forced by pressure in [Washington] D.C. to do an EIS [Environmental Impact Study] on leasing that everybody out here knows we shouldn’t be doing, it continues to be a struggle.

I am comfortable with the revised draft EIS for the [Pinedale] Anticline in the sense that we will have more ability to control and balance growth under the revised EIS than we do under the other document. Now is the revised EIS perfect? No, but I gave up on perfection a long time ago. We are trying to get by with what we can, because balance means having to give up a little bit and trying to do what’s overall best for the development of the resource and the preservation of the environment. So, I end up with a position where neither the environmental groups are 100 percent happy with me, and neither are the companies. You know … so I kind of eat alone at the lunchroom.

PJH: Many people in Wyoming do not have adequate health care coverage. Do you have a plan to improve the situation?

DF: Our problem has been making sure we can attract good doctors, but it’s also been, like the rest of the country, that we have an increasing number of the uninsured. We offered a couple of proposals to the legislature last year that didn’t make it, and we are going to try again on some pilot programs that are intended to figure out a way to do it. But I want to be careful. Because the states that have walked in and said, “OK, we are going to have universal coverage” have generally ended up bankrupt. So, I want to be careful that what we do is incremental and supportable. I’m disappointed that we aren’t getting more federal help. Health care is always a problem in rural areas. But frankly, if we’re honest about it, it’s a problem in cities too, where we have a high number of uninsured.

PJH: Wyoming is often at odds with Montana over water rights and other issues. How would you describe your relationship with Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a fellow Democratic governor in a heavily Republican state?

DF: I actually consider Brian - and I know Brian does, too – we consider ourselves pretty good friends. I’m just amazed how often my friend can be wrong … [laughs]. The fact that we don’t agree doesn’t mean we have to be disagreeable about it.

PJH: Your term ends in 2011. There are rumors that you might challenge the state’s two-term limit to allow you to run for a third term. Are you considering that?

DF: I sure got ’em guessing, don’t I? That’s about all I’ll say on that.

Photo by Spencer Simensen
Wyoming's lead cowboy.

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